What Else Is New?Rethinking the "New" and Its Values in
Literature and in Literary Scholarship
The Inaugural Conference on the Study of English Literatures in
IsraelThe University of Haifa, HaNamal St. 65, Downtown Haifa
Wednesday, February 8, 20179:45: Gathering and Coffee 10:00:
Greetings and Opening Remarks
Ayelet Ben-Yishai, University of Haifa
10:15-11:30: Session I1A: Forming the NewDaniel Feldman,
Bar-Ilan UniversityThe Longs Odds of Literature in a World of
Algorithm Esther Schupak, Bar-Ilan UniversityIn Pursuit of the
UsefulKeren Omry, University of HaifaThe Newness of Now:
Contemporaneity in African-American LiteratureChair: Yael Shapira,
Bar-Ilan University
1B: National, Post-National, Transnational Nir Evron, Tel-Aviv
UniversityEmerson, Zionism, and Prophecy
Ruthie Wenske-Stern, University of HaifaThe Challenge of Newness
in Contemporary African RealismChair: Zohar Weiman-Kelman,
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
11:45-13:00: Session II2A: Staging the NewAlex Feldman,
University of HaifaRecuperating the Rejects of Renewal:
Legal-Historical Drama across the Mid-Century DivideAmy Garnai,
Tel-Aviv University/Seminar HakibbutzimThomas Holcroft's The Lady
of the Rock and the Emergence of British MelodramaReut Barzilai,
University of Haifa“A New Play, Never Staled with the Stage:”:
Antitheatricalism as a Sales Boost for Theatrical Commodities
Chair: Ayelet Langer, University of Haifa
2B: Writing, Counter-Writing, Meta-Writing Zoe Beenstock,
University of HaifaRomantic Novelty and Skepticism: Making It New
(Again) Maya Merlob, University of HaifaEconomic Stagnation:
Rituals of Procrastination in Early American LiteratureYael
Ben-zvi, Ben-Gurion University of the NegevRethinking the Sources
of Early American Rights
Chair: Josh Weiner, University of Haifa
13:00-14:15: Lunch
15:30-16:45: Session 33A: Getting at the AuthorsDaphna
Erdinast-Vulcan, University of Haifa Re-enter the Author: the
Fantastic Case of Elena FerranteEinat Palkovich, NYU
Shanghai/University of HaifaThe Altruistic Author: A Cognitive
Aesthetic Approach to Moral Values in Roald Dahl’s Novels for
Children.Barbara Hochman, Ben-Gurion University of the NegevFilling
in Blanks: Nella Larsen's Application to Library School
Chair: Nir Evron, Tel-Aviv University
3B: Ethics and Literature: Contemporary PerspectivesTami Amiel
Hauser, The Open University A New Look at an Old Subject: Empathy
and the NovelNaomi Mandel, University of Rhode IslandComplicity
Anew: Aesthetics after the RealYosefa Raz, The Hebrew University of
JerusalemWhat’s New About (Representing) War?
Chair: Daniel Feldman, Bar-Ilan University
16:45-17:15: Coffee Break
17:15-18:45: Concluding Reflections Ellen Spolsky, Bar-Ilan
University Ilana Blumberg, Bar-Ilan University Galia Benziman, The
Open University Chair: Eitan Bar-Yosef, Ben-Gurion University of
the Negev
19:30: Dinner
Thursday, February 9, 2017The second day's workshops will focus
on the challenges facing English departments today and the
different strategies we devise to cope with them. Both workshops
will feature brief presentations by department representatives,
though the majority of the session will be devoted to open
discussion. Attendance is by registration only.
10:00-11:30: Workshop AEnglish Departments in Israel: Profiles
in Brief12:00-13:30: Workshop B English Departments in Israel:
Challenges AheadYael Ben-zvi, Michael Kramer, Keren Omry, Noam
Reisner, Tzahi Zamir
Maurice Ebileeni, Hebrew University of JerusalemThe Palestinian
Story in English!
For additional information and registration:
[email protected]
Gur Alroey, Dean of the Humanities, University of Haifa
14:15-15:15: Keynote LectureOren Izenberg, University of
California-IrvineHow to Know Everything Chair: Milette Shamir,
Tel-Aviv University
